Can I use my own answering machine system instead of Oomas?

[DatOoma]

I've been searching for a new new phone to go with Ooma for a while now, but all the phones that I have found interest in already come with their own answering machine.

Is there a way to use the phones answering machine instead of Oomas?

[bw1]

Yes, you can use your answering machine. Just set the number of rings before ooma answers to be higher than the number of rings before the answering machine answers. You can't turn off ooma's answering system.

You should also be able to turn off the answering machine included with the phone system your looking to get and use ooma's instead.

[WayneDsr]

I disabled my Panasonic answering machine, oomas is so much better and easier to use.

Wayne

[scottlindner]

Yes, you can use your answering machine. Just set the number of rings before ooma answers to be higher than the number of rings before the answering machine answers. You can't turn off ooma's answering system.

You should also be able to turn off the answering machine included with the phone system your looking to get and use ooma's instead.

This is the answer QWest gave me when I wanted to do the same with their landline service that comes with free VM and our answering machine at home. There is a major flaw in this approach that has led to us missing tons of voicemails. Someone is already leaving you a VM on your answering machine and someone else calls. They go to Ooma's VM and you never get it because you do not believe you have to check it.

We do need a way to turn off Ooma's VM for this reason. I can't tell you how many important calls we didn't get until years later because of this approach.

Cheers,
Scott

[buzzman]

Some phones will inform you when you have a voicemail (in either phone's VM or Ooma's). A good rule of thum is to always check your Ooma's VM if someone tried to call when you were on the phone. Just my two cents.

[WayneDsr]

The big blinking light on the ooma hub would would be the first hint that there might be voicemail....

Wayne

[scottlindner]

The big blinking light on the ooma hub would would be the first hint that there might be voicemail....

Wayne

Only if you have the light brightness turned all the way up.

I am one of the unusual types that plans on installing my Ooma Hub in my network rack. I'll never see it. I'm considering using the much smaller Scout as my VM thingy, but it is optional. I fully intend to use Ooma's VM because it is superior to my answering machine, but that isn't for everyone. So I think this is a good suggestion and it's necessary for the QWest situation that really did happen to me.

Cheers,
Scott

[WayneDsr]

Only if you have the light brightness turned all the way up.

ha... that's true....

Wayne

[scottlindner]

Another reason it matters to be able to disable Ooma's VM if you want to use your own answering machine is when you're checking messages remotely. Of course, that's why I prefer Ooma's VM because it's even better for checking it remotely, but web access while on vacation in Hawai'i isn't something most people think about.

Hmm.. this got me thinking. It would be nice if there was a voice recognition capability in Ooma's VM (Premier?) so you can read the VM if you are not in a private setting.

Anyway.. I think it's a good request and it should be very easy to implement when they have the opportunity to get to it.

Cheers,
Scott

[lohertz]

Ahh. its so nice to hear that everything is moving into "The Cloud" think of the conspiracy theories.

I guess it doesn't matter since the whole thing is over the Internet anyway. LOL

And no, there is no way to disable the Voice mail system. You can do as suggested earlier but there is no real solution